Douglas Higgins

This post laid dormant in the draft section.

Douglas Higgins painted those!

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Source

https://aviationtrails.wordpress.com/2015/07/05/raf-little-snoring-honours-and-awards/

Source

https://banneroftruth.org/us/about/banner-authors/douglas-higgins/

Higgins was born on the 16th of August, 1914, a few days after the outbreak of World War I, in Gleadless, a small village in Yorkshire, at that time just outside Sheffield. He left school at the age of sixteen, having won a scholarship to attend evening classes at Sheffield School of Art.

His first jobs were in commercial art. Having discovered ‘a latent desire for knowledge,’ he enrolled in physics, and later biology, and astronomy classes at Sheffield University.

His upbringing in the local Congregational Church had given Douglas a familiarity with the Bible, but by the time he was eighteen, his studies were raising many questions in his mind. He was longing for a real knowledge of God, and began reading the work of scientists who were also Christians. It was by this means that he was converted in 1936, realizing ‘what was the obvious truth: to know Jesus Christ is to have eternal life!’ His wife-to-be, Eileen Rushby, was converted shortly afterwards. Removed from the Church’s membership for teaching the ‘doctrines of grace,’ Douglas began attending the Sovereign Grace Mission in Gleadless, along with Eileen.

During World War II, Douglas spent five years with 23rd Squadron, RAF, which included service in Malta and Sardinia.

While in England in 1944, he and Eileen were married (on 16th August, his 30th birthday). At the end of the War, the Mission had become ‘Wycliffe Chapel’ after a change of premises, and this was to be their spiritual home, the base for their Christian service, and the environment in which they brought up their two children, Andrew and Dorothy.

After demobilisation in 1946, Douglas trained as a teacher, and obtained a post as an art specialist in Wisewood Secondary Modern School, where he taught for ten years before moving on to other appointments in Derbyshire and Sheffield. He returned to Primary Education for his last two appointments before retiring from teaching in 1978.

Following Eileen’s death, aged 77, in 1998, Douglas found himself with a ministry providing accommodation for Chinese students, and made many lasting friendships.

The Trust publishes Douglas’ autobiography.

Douglas Higgins is a man of many gifts and many interests: a sculptor and potter, as well as a painter in oil and water-colour; an engineer; a gardener and a lover of nature in all its forms; a cyclist who covered much of England by that means. In his own church, and in numbers of others, he is known as an ever-cheerful encourager and a lover of the word of God. That he should take up a ministry of care for students from mainland China when in his nineties is typical of the life God has given him . . . he has been a teacher by example as well as by word. What a privilege it is to have reached the centenary year of one’s birth and not to have outlived one’s usefulness! We thank God for a life which has been of blessing to so many. – Iain H. Murray

One man’s addiction to…

Updated 8 November 2023

 

I have had this addiction since July 2007. I started writing about it in 2008.

As a retired school teacher since 2004, having studied to teach history at high school level, I had only taught that subject for two years being the youngest member in the staff. In 1974, I was offered instead to teach English as a second language because I was bilingual even if I had no training…

Go figure.

In July 2007, I got interested with who I was and where I was from. My brother had brought with him old photos of my maternal ancestors. Honoré Sauvé and Julie Leroux were my second great-grandparents.

Knowing nothing about my paternal ancestors I started a long journey on a virtual time machine and then got addicted to genealogy.

Summer of 1951

I now consider myself an amateur genealogist which means I don’t get paid to search for people’s ancestors. That way, if I am wrong, I can’t get sued.

Anyway I am not a rich person. I also consider myself an amateur historian even if I take history very seriously and try to follow the facts.

This artifact is most interesting because it was on the back of this group photo.

The writing on the back is Squadron Leader Philip Russell’s handwriting. There’s a date he wrote…

Sept (approx 1945).

People might think that the group picture was taken in September 1945 right?

Well it was not because Eugene Gagnon was back in Bromptonville in July 1945 and he never went back to Little Snoring after.

I have visited Bromptonville in 2010. This is where I had met Marcel Bergeron who desperately wanted to meet me.

In 2015, I gave Marcel a model airplane to show my appreciation for what he had tried to do…

Keeping Eugène Gagnon’s memories alive.

Eugène Gagnon died on October 21, 1947. People attended his funeral and paid homage to a hometown boy, a war hero, a Mosquito pilot.

If you should want to visit Bromptonville you would find out it’s now part of Sherbrooke. Once there you would be looking for something honouring Flight Lieutenant Eugène Gagnon…

Nothing would be found.

That’s the reason I have been writing to preserve the past.

Next time?

Courtesy of…

Hello Pierre.

My name is Mike Russell and I am the only son of the late Wing Commander Philip Russell. I now live in Australia but would often visit Little Snoring when home in UK as dad retired to Blakeney, a small village on the North Norfolk coast only a few miles from the aerodrome. Then a S/L Philip Russell, was you may know, took over the Squadron after Sticky Murphy died. He as one of the first pilots to return to the Squadron in Sardinia after his first tour expired. He was the CO when the war ended and was definitely part of the many break up parties when the Squadron was being disbanded and they had to dispose of the mess funds which had built up! I wrote a short book about his flying experiences entitled ‘One Man’s Addiction to Flying’ which was comprised of some of his own unpublished flying experiences and my memory of stories he told me when I was a young fella in the 1950s.

In earlier years I was also often in contact with Pete Smith, the late Tommy Smith’s son, and have some correspondence between my Dad and Tommy. Pete very kindly attended Phil’s funeral in 2012. I would be happy to send you a copy of this short book if you are interested.

Thank you for the research that you do and the reminder of the courage of those marvelous men and women that served so faithfully in those difficult years.

Can you please enlighten me as to your own connection to the Squadron?

I look forward to hearing from you when it is convenient.

Kind regards

Mike Russell

Adelaide, Australia

If you write, they will come…

Updated 8 November 2023

This is why I have been writing since 2009 about World War II.

I started writing about my wife’s uncle who was a stoker aboard HMCS Athabaskan. His ship was torpedoed by Torpedoboat T-24 on April 29, 1944.

Writing about the sinking of HMCS Athabaskan on WordPress had people reacted to that story by writing comments.

One comment back in January 2010 led me to meet a man who wanted to know more about his hero when he was a teenager.

That meeting led to the creation of this blog.

At first, there was little information about Eugène Gagnon. One information found in his obituary was that he had never gone overseas.

Well the obituary was wrong. Flight Lieutenant Eugène Gagnon flew 33 operations over Europe, mostly over Germany.

GAGNON operations

Footnote

This is a comment I got yesterday…

Hello Pierre.

My name is Mike Russell and I am the only son of the late Wing Commander Philip Russell. I now live in Australia, but would often visit Little Snoring when home in UK as dad retired to Blakeney, a small village on the North Norfolk coast only a few miles from the aerodrome.

Then a S/L Philip Russell, as you may know, took over the Squadron after Sticky Murphy died. He was one of the first pilots to return to the Squadron in Sardinia after his first tour expired. He was the CO when the war ended and was definitely part of the many break up parties when the Squadron was being disbanded and they had to dispose of the mess funds which had built up!

I wrote a short book about his flying experiences entitled ‘One Man’s Addiction to Flying’ which was comprised of some of his own unpublished flying experiences and my memory of stories he told me when I was a young fella in the 1950s.

In earlier years I was also often in contact with Pete Smith, the late Tommy Smith’s son, and have some correspondence between my Dad and Tommy. Pete very kindly attended Phil’s funeral in 2012. I would be happy to send you a copy of this short book if you are interested.

Thank you for the research that you do and the reminder of the courage of those marvelous men and women that served so faithfully in those difficult years.

Can you please enlighten me as to your own connection to the Squadron?
I look forward to hearing from you when it is convenient.
Kind regards
Mike Russell
Adelaide, Australia

To be continued…

Remembering…

This blog is all about remembering…

I have recently found your website concerning 23 Squadron and the De Havilland Mosquito. I’m very interested in finding out more about the activities of the squadron in the first few years of WW2 because my uncle, Sergeant Malcom Cook, flew as an observer/navigator with 23 Sqdn. I am proud to have his log book, covering his early training in 1941 to the final entry on 8th September 1942 flying Mosquito YP-U on an intruder mission.

Just below, the final entry says “Death Presumed 9/9/42”.

Do you have any information on the activities of the squadron around this time? I believe they were stationed at RAF Ford on the south coast but I have little further detail. Looking forward to finding out more!

Best regards

Jim.

To be continued on Sunday…